Expanding Interest in Microgrids, US Is Best Market

Interest in microgrids, which allow campuses to have much more control over energy, is growing rapdily. Distributed energy on campus microgrids will increase 164% over the next six years, and the US is the best overall market, according to Pike Research. Microgrids are pockets of distributed energy resources that can be isolated from the utility power grid. They represent an attractive option for single-owner campus environments. Intalled capacity is expected to grow from 620 megawatts (MW) to 1.6 gigawatts (GW) by 2017, when annual revenue is projected to reach $777 million. Campus microgrids, and especially educational institutions, are currently the leading segment of the microgrid market in terms of actual online operating capacity. Interest in microgrids is spreading beyond educational institutions to other campus segments as well, including commercial, government, he...